“T” Is For Total Therapy, Not Just Testosterone
Hi, my name is Don and my first entries are going to relay my tale in the quest for better health and fitness and how Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy has played an essential role in my results!
Too Fat, Too Sick, Too Many Pills!
My quest began six years ago when a high school acquaintance told me, “in the eastern culture they would tell you that your diabetes means you have lost the sweetness in your life”. That is when my head parted, yes parted like the red sea!
It was true and as I have learned over the last six years, her insight is always right. She had seen me and while she says she saw the real me, I do not know how. I was 6’0’ tall but weighed 358 lbs. I had Type II Diabetes, high blood pressure and several more maladies that affected every aspect of my life. I was taking eleven prescriptions a day and suffering from a continual sinus infection that I renewed an antibiotic prescription for monthly. I was a mess and frankly getting worse!
As she counseled me on things I could do to help myself, including making the decision that I did not want to leave this earth, I started seeing improvements almost right away. That was when she told me there was a path to what I said I wanted, but it required me to look at everything about my life in a different way. That is what I hope to let you know about in my message; you can change how you feel, look and act by changing the way you look at things.
I Changed…
I am obliged to tell you of where my journey began so there can be credence to the methods and components of the path I have taken. And the proof is in the pudding as they say. In the first nine months of my changing I lost 100 lbs, the equivalent of a small figure skater (I bench marked Michelle Kwan in 1995 as my model, she was 100 lbs at the time).
Besides the weight, I lost 10 inches off my waist, 10 inches off my chest and an amazing 3 inches off my neck! I could actually buy clothes off the rack! But that wasn’t all. I also lost my High Blood Pressure and my Type II Diabetes! Oh, yes, I also lost all of my prescriptions!
The Next Step – Bio Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy
What a glorious feeling it was to have higher energy and with more vigor and frankly, a smile that I could just not get rid of, but again, this was only the beginning. This all took place in my 56th year of life and while it was a remarkable improvement, I was still experiencing ailments and frustrations that I could not explain. That is about the time I investigated Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy.
I knew little about Bio-Identical Hormones at the time, but I had seen the results my girl friend was enjoying, and she faces more challenges than I had! Frankly, even with her Chronic Fatigue and Fiber Myalgia, she was running circles around me, so embarrassing!
She told me about the use of Testosterone and how it brought back the magic of her earlier years; the years when she worked long days and took on monumental tasks without fear or hesitation. I knew there must be truth to this, because I had seen her without this hormone.
Dr. Goldstein Showed Me How to Lose More!
After additional research, I started taking on a Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy when I was 57 years old. Under the direction of Dr. Stephen Goldstein, I had results that were both dramatic and immediate. While I was sure that the 100 pounds I lost was a miracle, it turns out that I had more to go and in the next five months I lost another 31 pounds.
My initial reaction to losing the additional weight is that I lost a perfectly good story line, because I could no longer say,” I lost the equivalent of small figure skater”. Thank goodness current events intervened because it was an Olympic year and the Chinese Woman’s Gymnastics Team was the perfect evolutionary tool to amend my favorite line.
Today I boast that I lost 131 pounds, the equivalent of two Chinese Gymnasts! I lost another four inches off my waist and improved my stamina in almost every physical aspect of my life. I also improved my memory, my eyesight and my physical strength.
I went in for my annual physical that fall and in my follow-up appointment I sat down with my doctor as he read through my blood work and other tests results. He finished reviewing the paperwork, sat it down and then pronounced me the healthiest 40 year old he had seen in years!
Needless to say, I felt very pleased with myself and why shouldn’t I have! I was 57 years old and in the best health I had experienced in more than 25 years. And I will add, at a point in life when all of “my age” peers were complaining about all that they could not do, nor did not want to do anymore.
Total Hormone Replacement Therapy
I have been on a Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement regime for just two years now. I have learned much about the therapy and what I must say now, is that as Dr Goldstein will tell you, it is not just about testosterone. There are many parts to the “Total” program.
Depending on your gender, the parts may vary. But for both genders, there are common hormones that make up the regime and these hormones are determined by what your body reports via the blood work and symptom review. Testosterone does top the list but additionally, DHEA, D, B, Melatonin and others for men.
Women are prescribed Testosterone, Estrogen, Progesterone, Melatonin DHEA, D, B and others. The doses for men and woman are less or more, but again, they are extrapolated based on your body’s levels of these hormones and supplements.
Looking Forward…
In the coming additions to my posts, I am going to visit each of these hormones and supplements one by one. My goal is to provide an explanation of the hormone or supplement along with a real life example of its effects as I have experienced them.
I am looking forward to my next entry which will deal with the real life impact and effects of Testosterone. Until then I leave you with this thought. If you start every day with the understanding it is a new beginning, you always have the chance to change your world!
Regards – Don Mullen – 5-26-2014